With Gov. Andy Beshear and dozens of supporters on hand, the new Henderson Distilling Co. on Monday morning ceremonially broke ground for its $5 million craft distillery and unveiled the name under which it will operate: Rhythm River Distillery.
“What a great day for Henderson, Kentucky,” the governor declared to applause.
The 7,380-square-foot Rhythm River stillhouse will be constructed on the former Henderson Municipal Power & Light campus in the 400 block of North Main and North Water streets on the edge of Downtown Henderson. An existing 7,000-square-foot brick building on North Main will be remodeled into a visitors’ center.
Henderson resident Andrew Powell, who founded the company with his wife, Meredith, said Rhythm River will play a role in Downtown Henderson’s ongoing renaissance.
“Downtown Henderson is thriving,” Powell declared.
“When we started this project, we wanted to be part of Downtown Henderson. Henderson has a vibe” these days, he said. “… There is a rhythm permeating this community. This distillery just wants to be another feather in the cap” of that.
Beshear told reporters that he expects Rhythm River “will bring tens of thousands of tourists on the (Kentucky) Bourbon Trail” to Henderson.
The start of construction on the stillhouse is “imminent” while the copper column still and other process equipment is being fabricated, Powell said.
Tim Skinner is the architect for the project while AVP Inc. will be the general contractor. The Powells have also been working with Shrout Tate Wilson, a distillery engineering firm in Lexington.
Rhythm River is expected to open by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
“I look forward to cutting the ribbon,” Beshear said.
The distillery will produce bourbon and rye whiskeys—which will age in barrels for four and two years, respectively—as well as vodka and gin that can be bottled and sold immediately after being distilled. While the locally produced bourbon and rye are aging, Rhythm River will bottle and sell whiskey sourced from other Kentucky distilleries, which is a common practice for new distilleries.
The distillery will create 12 new full-time jobs. Meredith Powell, who has a degree in biology and has worked as a scientist and an environmental specialist, will be head distiller and has been training at Louisville’s acclaimed Moonshine University as well as at various distilleries.
“We’ll make the best spirits—right, Meredith?” Powell told the crowd. “We’ll make the best spirits and the best experience we can, and western Kentucky will be better for it.”
Beshear said the Rhythm River groundbreaking ceremony “is an amazing way to close out Bourbon Heritage Month in Kentucky” and coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which draws millions of visitors to the state’s distilleries and is expected to post its third straight record-year in 2024.
The governor said bourbon has a $9 billion annual economic impact on Kentucky and employs 23,100 people in the state, generating a $2.2 billion annual payroll.
“This is just another way to supercharge this community and propel it into the future,” the governor said of the distillery here.
“I’ve come to Henderson over and over and over” for projects ranging from the $600 million Pratt Paper complex to a nearly $4 million investment in Henderson County High School’s Career & Technical Education unit, Beshear noted.
“I’m so proud the governor of Kentucky knows where Henderson, Kentucky is,” Andrew Powell said.
Powell thanked a host of folks at the state and local levels who have helped advance the distillery project as well as his “team of investors who are almost entirely Henderson-based or Henderson-connected” and were on hand to help break ground Monday.
Powell, a western Kentucky native and attorney who moved to Henderson 13 years ago and today serves as property valuation administrator, praised his adopted hometown. “I’ve seen a fundamental change in our community” in recent years with the arrival of new industry, new restaurants and downtown boutiques, he said.
Many of the business startups have been collaborating with one another. Doug Laramie, co-owner and head brewer of Henderson Brewing Co., said the brewery is already planning for a new beer flavor that will be aged in a used Rhythm River barrel. He said Henderson Brewing bar will offer the local whiskey and other spirits, and the distillery will offer local beers.
“There are so many people who make living in Henderson worth it,” Powell said as he scanned the crowd of friends and supporters.
“It’s unbelievable how accepting Henderson is if you will make the effort” to embrace it, he said.
Community leaders, in turn, praised the Powells and their distillery project.
“It’s tremendous to have (economic development) announcements in Henderson,” Henderson County Judge/Executive Brad Schneider said. “We’ve had a bunch in the last several years. But it hits differently when it’s people you know and love.
“Our downtown is so unique,” Schneider said. With Rhythm River Distillery set to be open in six months or so, “I think it’s win, win, win, win, win.”
“It will be useful to the city of Henderson. It will be beneficial,” Mayor Brad Staton said, adding that he expects Rhythm River will draw “30,000 unique visitors to Henderson” each year.
“This marks the beginning of a new chapter in our community,” said Missy Vanderpool, who as executive director of Henderson Economic Development has assisted the project. She called the Rhythm River undertaking “the revival of an historic industry in the heart of our community.”
“My goodness, what an exciting day that we can all be together and celebrate this new distillery,” Abby Dixon, executive director of the Henderson Tourist Commission, said.
“This will bring jobs. This will bring dollars” to Henderson, Dixon said. “This will have a lasting impact on our local economy.”
“We haven’t distilled bourbon in Henderson since World War I,” she noted. “The drought is over, you all.” Almost.
Eric Gregory, a Henderson native and president of the Kentucky Distillers Association, which owns and operates the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, expressed delight that the local distillery project is advancing.
“I can’t wait to visit my hometown and drink a glass of their whiskey with the people of Henderson, family and friends,” Gregory said in a telephone interview.
Rhythm River “will be an immediate draw for people from all over the world and will bring a lot of benefits to the community,” he said, explaining that bourbon tourists tend to be younger, more prosperous (with household incomes averaging $130,000 a year) and stay longer than other tourists.
“This is a game-changer for Henderson and Downtown Henderson,” Gregory said. “You won’t believe the people it will attract.”
